


Over

by massuneko



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 03:09:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4463201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/massuneko/pseuds/massuneko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Thomas Arclight died in the young age of 20, Kamishiro Ryoga tried to find a way to bring him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over

When Thomas Arclight died in the young age of 20, Kamishiro Ryoga dropped everything about dueling and buried himself in studying. He didn’t even come to the funeral, insisting that he had to study for the upcoming exams and doing his homework. Even after he graduated from high school and entered university, he didn’t pay a visit to Thomas’ grave. Not even once.

“I thought you were friends,” commented Chris one time when Ryoga visited Kaito to help him with one of his assignments.

“We’re not,” replied Ryoga grimly as he adjusted his glasses and continued with his discussion as if Chris’ question was never there.

Ryoga graduated sooner than anyone else in his year, and his work on the Final Project received countless praise. Yet Ryoga was still dissatisfied with what he did and he was dedicated to perfect what he had started.

“It still feels weird to see you being interested and dedicated to robotics, when before you’re all about sharks and marine biology and dueling,” commented Yuma when he dropped by Ryoga’s lab to bring him some decent food.

“So do I,” replied Ryoga briefly before he stuffed his mouth with more onigiri and karaage and basically refused to talk until he finished his meal in less than 15 minutes.

“Thanks for the food,” said Ryoga as he returned the empty boxes and stood up from his seat, silently forcing Yuma to stand as well and followed him outside.

“Hey, Shark,” said Yuma, “If you need a company when you visit his grave, you can always call me.”

Ryoga glared at him and it made him flinched. “Whose grave?” he asked rhetorically as he opened the door for Yuma. Yuma immediately knew that it’s the cue for him to never talk about it again.

Still, no one actually knew what Ryoga was working on, except the fact that it’s an android. The one he built for the Final Project was just a prototype, with only basic sets of interaction and functions. One of the many functions Ryoga installed first was the dueling function, despite how Ryoga had practically abandoned dueling. Ryoga gave it a standard deck for the demonstration, but Rio knew that he kept another deck for the android.

“Why exactly did you build that android, anyway?” asked Rio one time when Ryoga remembered to take some days off and went back home to rest.

“It’s something I need to build,” replied Ryoga flatly.

“Can’t you even tell your own sister?” pushed Rio.

“I just did,” replied Ryoga. Rio was too offended to keep the conversation or to pry for any other information from Ryoga.

It was not until Ryoga collapsed in his lab that someone finally found what he was working on. Durbe was curious and reckless enough to steal Ryoga’s passkey as well as his nametag and everything else needed to sneak into the lab. That was one of the times Durbe was grateful that his face could pass as nerd enough to wander around the place. It didn’t take him long to find Ryoga’s workplace. There was only one door that Ryoga never left open, but this time it was, and Durbe wasted no time to get into that room.

That was when Durbe understood. Centuries had passed since Durbe knew Ryoga as Nasch, but he still hadn’t changed since then. He quietly left the room, made sure that it was closed and locked properly, before he left the building and returned Ryoga’s stuffs to where they were supposed to be. Durbe kept what he saw in that room to himself, and watched over Ryoga closely just as he used to.

Seasons passed but Ryoga’s progress was stagnant. He was out of options and ideas that could make his project work. It took him a whole month off to figure out what he had to try next. He gathered up some courage and showed up in front of Arclight manor’s door. Michael was the one to answer the door, but the one Ryoga wanted to meet was Byron. Ryoga believed he had something that Ryoga needed, but he wasn’t sure that Byron would willingly give it to Ryoga.

“How dare you to even ask it from me,” hissed Byron after he heard Ryoga’s request. He might look like a 14-year-old boy but his intimidating aura would never lie.

“I know it sounds rude, but—”

“My answer is no. Get out of my house, now,” cut Byron as he glared at Ryoga. There was nothing Ryoga could do but comply. Michael led him out, and he could see tears rolling down Byron’s cheeks as he left the living room.

“Even until the end, you are still the only one he called his friend,” commented Michael as he held the front door for Ryoga.

“I know,” replied Ryoga quietly as he left the mansion without trying to make any eye contact with Michael.

That night Ryoga stayed in his lab, just like the countless nights before. He stared at his project, his creation, and stroked its smooth cheeks lovingly. Without Byron’s cooperation, his chance to wake it up had just got smaller. Sighing, Ryoga turned to his computer for some maintenance. He ran a program and the android opened its eyes. Ryoga stared into those pair of magenta, although he knew that those eyes wouldn’t stare back at him.

He set it up for a duel to enrich and test its AI. It didn’t feel like a duel at all for Ryoga. There was no passion, no frustration, just flat reciting of steps and card effects. Everything was predictable from start to finish. It didn’t feel different from a clockwork doll, repeating the same thing it was set to again and again.

The Heavens Strings he took into his field looked blurry as he declared a direct attack to the android’s Life Point, dropping it down to zero.

“Thank you for the game,” the android said flatly as he was programmed to. Ryoga wiped his face dry before storing the decks and turning off the android.

“I preferred it more if you insulted me and demanded a rematch,” whispered Ryoga as he leaned forward, resting his head on its chest. There was neither heartbeat nor warmth under the pajama and the faux skin.

Ryoga paid a visit to Kaito after another few months of attending seminars and reading numerous journals. Kaito could already guess Ryoga’s intention and he wasn’t wrong. After all, he had successfully built Orbital 7 when he was still very young. It was amusing for him to see Ryoga’s deep frown. Ryoga had somewhat managed to miss the very key to his project’s success when it was right in front of his eyes after all.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any spares,” said Kaito, “There’s nothing left of it anyway.”

“I know you know where to find something similar—don’t you even dare to deny it,” pushed Ryoga.

“Even if I know, I won’t hand it to you,” replied Kaito firmly, “You must learn to let go.”

“Thank you for the tea,” growled Ryoga before he stood up from his seat.

“Haven’t you learned enough from your own experience?” asked Kaito.

“I certainly have,” hissed Ryoga before he left the place in furious steps.

Rio set up an intervention when Ryoga was found collapsed again in his lab. Ryoga was mad when he found out that everyone somehow had found out about what he was actually making, and he’s even angrier when literally everyone suggested that he should just give up on the project and learn to accept the reality. He was angry enough to shove everyone out of his way, hop on his bike, and drive full speed to his lab.

His face was already damp with tears when he reached his research room. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt as he locked the door. For some reasons he just couldn’t stop crying, and he let himself be as he turned on the android. It opened its eyes and stepped out from its capsule just as it’s programmed to. Ryoga walked closer and held it close. He could feel it held him back, but he knew that it was merely because it was programmed to. There was no emotion behind that action, just a series of codes and algorithms.

When he finally calmed down, he nudged the android and stepped away. There was one thing he had yet tried, although he wasn’t even sure about what kind of result he might have. Still, he thought it’s worth to try and at that time he didn’t care enough about the consequences. He walked to his desk and opened the bottom drawer, where he carefully kept the only thing that connected his past to his future. It still looked as good as new, untouched by the time.

Ryoga commanded the android to lie down on the table, and he approached it with the pendant in hand. He took a screwdriver and forcefully plucked out the blazing red gem. It felt warm in his hand, and Ryoga knew that he still could control the energy flow between him and the gem. He undid the android’s pajama and opened the core energy chamber located in his chest. Ryoga took a deep breath, trying to steady his heartbeat.

“At the very least, if this one fails as well, I know I will be reunited with you,” murmured Ryoga. The android didn’t respond. Ryoga didn’t expect it to anyway.

Rio and Durbe were the first to arrive to the lab. She learned too much from Ryoga’s driving habit and honestly Durbe didn’t mind about the speed when it came to emergency situation. They had bad feelings about Ryoga storming out like that. They headed straight to Ryoga’s room, and they were ready to yell at Ryoga until he opened the door for them, only to find that it wasn’t locked.

The one that waited for them in the waiting room was the perfect copy of Thomas Arclight; still as young as when he died. The absence of the scar on his right cheek was the only thing that let Rio and Durbe realized that he was the android Ryoga created, not a dead man that came back to life. It took them a while to recover from the surprise, and only then they realized that there was heap of purple on his lap. Rio opened her mouth to call for Ryoga but the android Thomas pressed a finger to his lips.

“He’s resting, be quiet,” he whispered. Rio looked at Durbe, who looked back at her, before slowly and quietly got closer to them. Durbe couldn’t help but stare at the android, noticing how he was much more alive than the last time Durbe went there. It was as if he had a soul of his own.

Rio sighed and crouched down, wanting to mess with Ryoga’s face since he made them worried. There were traces of tears on his face and immediately Rio felt sorry for him. She looked up at the android and she admitted that he really was a splitting image with the real one. “Is Ryoga always like this? I mean, does he sleep on your lap often?” asked Rio curiously. The android frowned and looked down to Ryoga.

“I… I don’t know. So his name is Ryoga?” he asked back to Rio. This time it’s Rio who frowned deeply.

“Wait, he never told you his name?” asked Rio again. The android shook his head.

“Do you have a name?” chimed Durbe. Something feels really off but he couldn’t really grasp it just yet.

The android looked really lost. He tried to remember something, anything, from the strings of words and numbers inside him. Then suddenly a name struck him, not from the stacks of data inside his memory, but more from somewhere else that he couldn’t quite explain.

“Nasch,” he answered slowly, “My name is Nasch.”

Thomas’ face and Ryoga’s expression seemed to overlap on the android’s face.


End file.
